Ward Campout

I'm sure there is no better way to get to know your ward members than by going camping with them. We had such a blast at this campout! We took a really funny video of David waking up in the tent but it isn't uploading. So here are just the pictures for now.

He looks like baby Moses. This was his bed. He loved it.

A lot of ward members are in love with David. Here is is looking at the fire with Paula.

David slept like this most of the night. And I'm faking sleep in case you couldn't tell. We actually had to wake David up he slept so good! Good boy!

We had some yummy tin-foil dinners (pre-cooked at home :o). Brian played capture the flag with the boys. The ward provided the smores. One guy was making them with peanut butter cups. Now that is indulgent! We put David to bed in the tent at about 8:00 didn't wake up until 1 or 2 in the morning (which is good for David believe it or not).

David has one of those cloth binkies that you can put food in. He loves it! So for dinner at the campout he had canned mandrain oranges and pineapple. Until one of my friends that is expecting her third baby mentioned that infants shouldn't have citrus. Oops.

Cousins

David has lots of cousins. Here are a few candid photos of Davey with his little friends.

Ah Camille. She has four older brothers and is quite a tough cookie. Poor David got bullied a bit. She is about 10 months older than David.

More with the Cook cousins.

Salisbury cousins!

David and Kaitlyn are good friends. Kate has a little brother a year older than David so it was easy to have her keep an eye on him when I needed to get something done.

David got to visit his newest cousin Julia a little while ago. More to come on our Utah trip a little later.

Mom and David Dates...and a little about Brian too.

David is growing so fast. I love every moment we have together...well not every moment I guess ;) One thing that we like to do is trek around the neighborhood in this backpack. We do get a lot of stares but we have fun! If there were mountains around I'm sure we'd hike together. Today David fell asleep while we walked.




Tomorrow we are going to take David camping for the first time. I'm stoked and Brian is skeptical. I'll be sure to report how it goes. I remember going camping often as a young girl and I don't recall a new baby ever stopping my family from hitting the great outdoors. That reminds me, Brian has been quite outdoorsy lately. His excellent mulch sales has enabled us to buy some really great, high quality gear from REI. A few days ago Brian went to Scout camp with the Young Men that he advises. He got to hike, camp, and rock climb! Cool!



In June Brian will head to Philmont for a few weeks. I'm going to go to Utah and do a little of my own hiking :o)

My Darling Little Princess

Fingers and Toes

Hillbilly Hoedown

Meet Billy. Billy one the kontest fur the best kostum at the ward partee.

Dis is Billees wife (ur cousin if yude ruther) and little pup kald David.

I think Billy is jist da handsumest man I no. Don't chu?

My Best Attempt at Vegan Cooking

The average American dinner consists of a hunk of meat, some kind of starchy food, and a simple side of vegetables...perhaps canned or frozen peas, green beans, broccoli, etc. (I'm making a lot of assumptions in this post so sorry if my stereotypes don't apply to you.) I'm good at making these dinners. No big deal right? But lately I have realized that my diet has been a little lackluster. Everyone wants to be healthy and vibrant and I have come to realize that the true key to health success is a proper diet and consistent aerobic exercise. This is what it will always boil down to folks. So to revamp my efforts to remain fit and healthy, I studied up on Veganism. My goal was to learn how to cook with vegetables because honestly, how many of us know how to use lentils, chickpeas, kale, and the like? So here are a few candid shots of my efforts. By the way, I'm a huge ice-cream monster so I could never be vegan. And I'm not against eating meat either.

My lovely Sweet Potato and Leek Gratin. Looks yummy right? Wrong. It was a failure. I couldn't afford fresh Rosemary so I used dried. And I forgot if you double the dried herb or cut it in half if you don't have the fresh stuff. I figured bold flavor isn't always bad so I doubled it. Ick. Every mouthful was full of dried, pine-needly rosemary leaves. Someday I hope to have my own bounteous herb garden which would have come in handy the night I made this.

Me making Couscous and Vegetables.

Success! This main dish was so lovely! I only wish I would have trusted that a meager cup of couscous would do the job. I think I settled for a cup and half. In the end, I felt the couscous slightly overwhelmed the yummy veggies. When will I learn to trust the recipe? This recipe featured spinach, green peppers, green onions, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, and kidney beans.

I made this Coconut Cream Cake for my Mother-in-Law's birthday about a week ago. Definitely not a vegan recipe but still really tasty. I topped it with toasted coconut and heart-shaped strawberries for a little flare. I owe my love for cooking sweets to my mother, who as Brian claims, is the best treat maker there ever was. I also admit that I am quite proud of the last-minute strawberry idea. I had never thought of cutting a notch at the top to make them look like hearts until I made this cake.